Smith: Home-court advantage should belong to Rockets

DENVER, CO - FEBRUARY 25: James Harden #13 and Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets celebrate during a timeout against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center on February 25, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/Getty Images)

DENVER, CO - FEBRUARY 25: James Harden #13 and Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets celebrate during a timeout against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center on February 25, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER:

Houston Rockets forward Luc Mbah a Moute, left, celebrates with Chris Paul during a timeout during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, in Houston. Houston won the game 125-95. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Rockets forward Luc Mbah a Moute, left, celebrates with Chris Paul during a timeout during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, in Houston.

Houston Rockets forward PJ Tucker (4) celebrates with Trevor Ariza after Ariza's basket helped turning the game around during the fourth quarter of a NBA game at the Toyota Center on Saturday, March 3, 2018, in Houston. The Houston Rockets defeated the against the Boston Celtics 123-120. ( Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )

Houston Rockets forward PJ Tucker (4) celebrates with Trevor Ariza after Ariza's basket helped turning the game around during the fourth quarter of a NBA game at the Toyota Center on Saturday, March 3, 2018, in

We've been waiting for Rockets-Warriors in the Western Conference finals since October. Right now, we're closer than ever to flipping that matchup around to Warriors-Rockets.

The Mike D'Antoni Show holds a two-game lead for the best record in the NBA with 15 contests to go and owns a regular-season tiebreaker over Kevin Durant and Co. While eight teams in the West fight for the 3-8 seeds in the postseason, the Rockets (53-14) are closer than ever toward possessing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

With Curry and Thompson temporarily out, there's no reason the Rockets shouldn't be able to finish this off.

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Brian T. Smith

Of course, it won't matter if Golden State (51-16) gets back to NBA championship-caliber basketball by the end of May. The Warriors, when clicking, are still so good they can beat anyone, anywhere. But Golden State has been wavering and off target for a while -- remember when players had to coach the team because they were tuning out their coach? -- and the Rockets have only grown deeper and stronger with each passing month.

One team is coming off a 17-game winning streak, which followed a 14-game winning streak. The other is missing two of its top-four players, and dealing with injuries while fighting off regular-season complacency.

I would still take the Warriors -- healthy, motivated; coming off three consecutive conference finals and two NBA titles -- in a seven-game series. But the dividing gap between the two evenly-matched teams keeps narrowing.

To take down Golden State in 2018, the Rockets need home-court advantage. They're getting closer and closer toward that goal.

And if they run the court in May like they have all season? Then, yeah, there's a better shot than ever that the Rockets could be hosting Game 1 of the NBA Finals.